The book consists of 82 pen and ink drawings by Chinese artist Yang Jingtai. The pictures are accompanied by texts in Chinese and English explaining the life of Araniko from his childhood to his death. The book also talks about his achievements and his influence on Chinese art and architecture. During his 40 years of stay in China, Araniko built three giant Dagobas, nine monasteries and numerous statues. He is respected as a national hero as well as a cultural ambassador of Nepal.
Divided into five chapters, the pictorial biography is a page turner and more like a graphic novel but without the speech bubbles. The text is concise and informative. Currently on exhibit at the Nepal Art Council in Kathmandu are the 82 drawings from the book. The show was inaugurated on August 19 to commemorate the second Sino-Nepal Cultural Interchanges Festival hosted jointly by the Nepal China Executives Council and the Administrative Office of Beijing White Dagoba Temple.
The black and white drawings of Jingtai have been hung chronologically in the gallery. Below each drawing are texts from the book as well as texts in Nepali, translated from Chinese by Niranjan Bhattarai. One can truly appreciate the skills of the artist when seen on a bigger scale on the gallery walls than in the book where the images are of postcard sizes. His line drawings are simple, clean and yet detailed. Nonetheless, the images on display are reproductions and not the originals.
The Nepal China Executives Council plans to organize exhibitions of the “Pictorial Biography of Araniko” in other places in Nepal as well as in Sri Lanka in the near future. The drawings were donated to the Council by the Administrative Office of Beijing White Dagoba Temple. The exhibit is also supported by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Kathmandu.
The exhibit is open till August 31 at Nepal Art Council, Babar Mahal, from 10am to 6pm. The book is also available for purchase at the gallery.
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